EVALUATION OF DIGITAL PEN IN DATA CAPTURING FOR LAND ADMINISTRATION PURPOSES IN RWANDA
DIDIER MILINDI RUGEMA February, 2011
SUPERVISORS:
Ir. C.H.J. Lemmen Drs. J.J. Verplanke
Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation of the University of Twente in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geo-information Science and Earth Observation.
Specialization: Land Administration
SUPERVISORS:
Ir. C.H.J. Lemmen Drs. J.J. Verplanke
THESIS ASSESSMENT BOARD:
Prof. Dr. J.A. Zevenbergen (Chair)
Ir. M.A. Engels MBA (External Examiner, Vicrea) Ir. C.H.J. Lemmen (First supervisor)
Drs. J.J. Verplanke (Second supervisor) Ir. M.C. Bronsveld (Observer)
EVALUATION OF DIGITAL PEN IN DATA CAPTURING FOR LAND ADMINISTRATION PURPOSES IN RWANDA
DIDIER MILINDI RUGEMA
Enschede, The Netherlands, February, 2011
DISCLAIMER
This document describes work undertaken as part of a programme of study at the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation of the University of Twente. All views and opinions expressed therein remain the sole responsibility of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of the Faculty.
The implementation of land administration is being taken in Rwanda. This includes spatial data (boundaries of parcels) and related legal administrative data. There are approximately 8 million parcels.
Efficient data acquisition methods are needed. Existing land rights are determined in an adjudication process supported by a participatory mapping (P-mapping) process. Digital orthophotos are available.
For spatial data acquisition in the field the orthophotos are first plotted, then the boundaries of parcels are drawn and the parcels IDs written on field sheets with pencil on site. Post-processing has to be performed in the office. This concerns redrawing and rewriting over the pencil marks by using normal pen on field sheets, the scanning and geo-referencing of the field sheets, and the vectorisation of parcels boundaries.
This process implicates different sources of errors because of many process steps. It is double work in terms of time. It requires a lot space for archiving. This implies a complex information management.
The focus of this research is on spatial data acquisition by using a digital pen. It compares the existing method and the digital pen method by qualitative and quantitative methods on the basis of four criteria:
quality of data, time used, P-mapping, and process.
It is concluded that a digital pen can be used to draw lines on map as normal, but the plotted map has patterns printed on it. This allows for storage of spatial data directly into georeferenced digital format into the pen. This addresses the sources of errors which are in the existing method, saving of time, saving the space for archiving, and keeping the promotion of P-mapping. The digital pen method would be more practical by improving some related functionalities. Proposals are made for that.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My gratitude is addressed to the following:
The Government of Rwanda, particularly the National Land Centre for the support during these studies.
The Netherland Fellowship Programme for providing the fellowship for these studies.
My supervisors in this research, Ir. Christiaan Lemmen and Drs. Jeroen Verplanke, for the guidance, the comments/remarks, and the advices during the research until the completion.
My lecturers in different modules during these studies.
Land administration Course staff, and other staff of ITC who contributed in the progress of these studies.
The staff of Kadaster who contributed in the progress of this research.
The staff of Vicrea for the meetings we had in regard of this research.
The students who we worked together for different tasks during these studies.
My family for the all support in different aspects.
Abstract ... i
Acknowledgements ... ii
List of figures ... v
List of tables ... vi
List of abbreviations ...vii
1. Introduction ... 1
1.1. Background of the study ...1
1.2. Research problem ...2
1.3. Research objectives ...2
1.3.1. Specific objectives ... 2
1.4. Research questions ...3
1.4.1. Main question ... 3
1.4.2. Sub-questions ... 3
1.5. Research methodology ...3
1.6. Thesis outline ...4
2. Land administration and participatory mapping ... 5
2.1. Land administration ...5
2.2. Participatory mapping ...6
2.2.1. Participatory mapping techniques ... 6
2.2.2. Participatory mapping in the context of land tenure... 6
2.2.3. Ethics and participatory mapping ... 7
2.3. Concluding remarks ...7
3. Cadastral survey process and data acquisition techniques in Rwanda ... 9
3.1. Process of cadastre ...9
3.2. Techniques of cadastral survey ...9
3.3. Human resources in surveying ... 10
3.4. Technological bottlenecks in carrying out the survey ... 10
3.5. Participatory mapping in data acquisition for land tenure regularisation ... 10
3.5.1. Main activities of land tenure regularisation in Rwanda ... 10
3.5.2. Orthophoto based in applying participatory mapping ... 12
3.5.3. Production of field sheets ... 13
3.5.4. Field work for parcels boundaries demarcation and registration ... 13
3.5.5. Spatial analysis of cadastral information ... 15
3.5.6. Status of parcels boundaries demarcation and post-processing digitisation ... 16
3.6. Concluding remarks ... 18
4. Data collection methods ... 19
4.1. Pre-field work ... 19
4.2. Field work ... 19
4.3. Further tests for para-surveyors in the use of the digital pen method ... 20
4.4. The selected sites for data collection ... 20
4.5. Further tests for other approaches in the use of the digital pen method ... 21
4.6. Materials used in data collection ... 21
5. Comparison of the existing method with the digital pen method ... 23
5.1. The use of digital pen and digital paper in parcels boundaries demarcation ... 23
5.1.1. Spatial unit based on polygon feature ... 23
5.1.2. Spatial unit based on line feature ... 25
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5.1.3. Functionality of digital pen in parcels boundaries demarcation ... 25
5.1.4. Test in the office ... 26
5.2. Tests of the digital pen method in participatory mapping ... 26
5.2.1. Field test of the digital pen method in participatory mapping/first period ... 26
5.2.2. Time needed in the digital pen method compared to the existing method ... 27
5.2.3. Acceptability of the digital pen method ... 27
5.2.4. Skills required for the use of the digital pen method ... 27
5.2.5. Visibility of the digital paper compared to the normal print ... 28
5.2.6. Tests for para-surveyors in the use of the digital pen method/second period... 28
5.3. Further usability testing ... 29
5.3.1. Reliability in the use of the digital pen method ... 29
5.3.2. Technical matters ... 30
5.4. Approaches for line feature based for spatial data capturing ... 30
5.4.1. Line feature based/approach 1 ... 30
5.4.2. Line feature based/approach 2 ... 32
5.4.3. Comparison of line feature based approaches (approach 1 and 2) ... 33
5.5. Point feature based approach for spatial data capturing ... 34
5.6. Comparison of the digital pen method/line feature based and point feature based... 35
5.7. Comparison of the existing method and the digital pen method ... 36
5.8. Concluding remarks ... 40
6. Discussion on the digital pen method for cadastral survey ... 41
6.1. Parcels boundaries demarcation in participatory mapping ... 41
6.1.1. Practicability in participatory mapping ... 41
6.1.2. Observation for participatory mapping... 43
6.2. Quality of spatial data (parcels boundaries) ... 43
6.2.1. Sources of errors in the existing method ... 43
6.2.2. Data acquisition in the digital pen method ... 45
6.3. Time used for spatial data capturing ... 45
6.4. Process used to get vectorised data ... 46
6.5. Concluding remarks ... 46
7. Conclusions and recommendations... 47
7.1. Conclusions ... 47
7.2. Recommendations ... 48
List of references ... 49
Appendix 1. Plotting digital map, data collection and correction of mapping mistakes ... 51
Appendix 2. Tests for digital pen functionalities ... 53
Appendix 3. Outputs of further tests for para-surveyors ... 58
Figure 1. Main activities in LTR ... 11
Figure 2. Parcel sketches in former Itabire District ... 12
Figure 3. Procedures applied in parcels boundaries demarcation and registration in the field ... 14
Figure 4. Steps followed in data collection ... 19
Figure 5. Location of the selected sites for data collection ... 21
Figure 6. Polygon feature based/parcel boundaries drawn by lifting digital pen ... 23
Figure 7. Polygon feature based/the ending point not close (left) and close (right) to the starting point ... 24
Figure 8. Polygon feature based/representations of boundaries between neighbouring parcels ... 25
Figure 9. Comparison of visibility of map prints: normal print (left) and digital paper (right) ... 28
Figure 10. Parcels boundaries demarcation in the field/further test ... 29
Figure 11. Line feature based/approach 1 (mistakes based on gaps and overlaps between lines) ... 31
Figure 12. Line feature based/approach 2 (polygons converted from overlapping lines) ... 32
Figure 13. Line feature based/approach 2 (Extra polygons/mistakes in overlapping lines)... 33
Figure 14. Point feature based approach (polygons digitised by snapping to the collected points) ... 35
Figure 15. Comparison of the existing method (left) and the digital pen method (right) ... 38
Figure 16. Collected data (left) and uploaded data from digital pen (right)/the digital pen method ... 39
Figure 17. Comparison of the outputs in the existing method ... 40
Figure 18. Pencil based (left) and digital pen based (right) for orthophoto based land adjudication ... 41
Figure 19. Highlighting on map disagreement on parcel boundary between neighbouring parcels ... 42
Figure 20. Scanned georeferenced field sheet (left) and the same area of the original orthophoto (right) .. 44
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Progress of field work and post-processing digitisation ... 16
Table 2. Human resources evolution for digitisation ... 16
Table 3. Average of parcels digitised per day ... 17
Table 4. Comparison of line feature based/approach 1 and 2 ... 34
Table 5. Comparison of line feature based approach and point feature based approach ... 35
Table 6. Comparison of the existing method and the digital pen method... 37
AC: Adjudication Committee DEM: Digital Elevation Model DTM: Digital Terrain Model
DGPS: Differential GPS
EDM: Electronic Distance Meter
ESRI: Environmental Systems Research Institute
GCP: Ground Control Point
GIS: Geographic Information System GPS: Global Positioning System
ITRF: International Terrestrial Reference Frame
LIS: Land Information System
LSK: Local Spatial Knowledge LTR: Land Tenure Regularisation
LUP: Land Use Plan
NLC: National Land Centre
OLL: Organic Land Law
P-mapping: Participatory mapping PGIS: Participatory GIS
1. INTRODUCTION
This research presents the use of digital pen in land adjudication1 process for land administration purposes in Rwanda. The focus of this research is on spatial data acquisition and mapping cadastral information.
The use of the digital pen method is assessed by using the digital pen for orthophoto based boundaries demarcation. In the existing method, data collected from the field are in analogue format, and post- processing has to be performed in the office. This research assesses the use of the digital pen method compared to the existing method.
1.1. Background of the study
Access to reliable information on the ownership, value, and use of land helps to further social and political objectives. The most common form of a land information system is the cadastre through land registration (McLaughlin, 1999).
Land registration in Rwanda is being undertaken under the systematic land registration, and this will provide a nation wide parcels boundaries index map for each location. With the 2005 organic land law (OLL) determining the use and management of land in Rwanda, all land must be formally registered (Official Gazette of the Republic of Rwanda, 2005). There are approximately 8 million parcels (MINIRENA, 2009). Compared to the colonial period, the situation has not changed much after independence. As a matter of fact, 90% of the country’s arable land was still governed by customary law.
The written land law was still applied to a small number of persons and religious congregations. It was applying more often in urban areas and business communities (Official Gazette of the Republic of Rwanda, 2007).
At the moment, the process of land registration is taken under land tenure regularisation for all land in the country using orthophoto based land adjudication. Land Tenure Regularisation (LTR) is a set of
administrative procedures undertaken for the purpose of recognising and securing existing rights that people and organisations other than the State have to, in or over land, including individual land, State private land, private district land, and City of Kigali land. It is designed to clarify the rights of the existing owners and occupants of land and, where necessary and desirable, to convert those rights into a legally recognised form that will allow people to legally transact their interests in land, and use their titles for mortgaging and credit purposes (National Land Centre, 2009). The goal of this process is land tenure security which leads to avoidance of land disputes, economic development, investments in different aspects, etc. According to (Dale, 1993), land registration and cadastral systems are part of the
infrastructure that is needed to minimise the waste and to maximize the effectiveness of land development programmes.
In a land administration system, various technologies are used for cadastral data acquisition. Spatial data and related non spatial data (legal administrative attributes) are required as a basis for land registration and for the establishment of a sustainable land administration system. Before the innovative system of
orthophoto based land adjudication, the techniques for spatial data acquisition were to use theodolite, GPS and total station for fixed boundaries survey. This was done on a demand led basis (sporadic land registration), in rural and mainly in urban areas. At the moment, the aim is to register systematically all land (parcels). In this process, Quickbird satellite imagery (0.60m resolution) has been used for LTR trials in 2007, and at the moment aerial photographs (0.25m resolution) are used for the on-going process at national level. The government facilitates local people to do the work by themselves. Participatory
EVALUATION OF DIGITAL PEN IN DATA CAPTURING FOR LAND ADMINISTRATION PURPOSES IN RWANDA
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mapping (P-mapping) is adopted for field data collection using plotted orthophotos for parcels boundaries demarcation, and register books for recording related legal administrative attributes. The analogue
collected data from the field are post-processed in the office for digitisation.
Politics and policy can happen only in communities. Public policy is about communities trying to achieve something as communities (Stone, 2002). In land administration, a participatory approach is useful to get information related to people’s lands; the starting point is local people.
1.2. Research problem
With the implementation of land administration in Rwanda, the aim is to have nation wide coverage as soon as possible. Efficient data acquisition methods are needed. In the existing orthophoto based land adjudication, the pencil is used on plotted maps for demarcating parcels boundaries and writing parcels IDs for data collection in the field. After field work, the post-processing is to redraw and rewrite the pencil marks on field sheets by using normal pen to make boundaries and parcels IDs more visible on the field sheets. Then scanning field sheets, georeferencing them, and digitising (vectorising) parcels
boundaries is by redrawing them. This process implicates different sources of errors because of many process steps. It is double work in terms of time, but also it implicates a lot space for archiving.
The existing method has as advantage to facilitate P-mapping; this doesn’t require a high educational level;
it requires anyone who is able to interpret the image, and is able to read and write. The tools are familiar and easy to use, suitable for field conditions and facilitate collaboration in the field. Printed field sheets are on large or small scale, they are lightweight, portable, reliable, and other advantages for field work.
Despite these advantages, there is a need to investigate data acquisition techniques to use in order to prevent the sources of errors which are in the existing method and improve efficiency.
The digital pen captures what is drawn and written on digital paper2, and it stores the drawn and written data to its internal memory and the operator can transfer the collected data to the computer by connecting the pen via USB3 adapter.
1.3. Research objectives
The research assesses whether the use of digital pen can improve the efficiency for spatial data acquisition for general boundaries survey in Rwanda.
1.3.1. Specific objectives
To compare the existing method of spatial cadastral data acquisition (general boundaries) and the digital pen method by:
Assessing sources of errors in the existing method that can be addressed by the digital pen method
Identifying the time that the existing method takes compared to the time that the digital pen method would take for spatial data capturing
Assessing the process used for each method, the existing method and the digital pen method, in terms of the space for archiving
Identifying practical field operations in P-mapping when using the digital pen method compared to the existing method.
2 Digital paper is patterned paper used in conjunction with a digital pen to create the records digital. The digital paper is an ordinary paper. During the process the application software converts the paper to a digital paper by printing patterns of tiny black dots, and these dots are printed in a carbon black ink that reflects infrared light, and so the camera in the pen records the dots.
Digital pen records the position (XY geographic coordinates) of the pen as it moves across the paper. The digital records stored into the pen can be uploaded to a computer.
3USB stands for Universal Serial Bus which is one of the most prevalent connection ports on today’s computers and peripheral devices.
1.4. Research questions
To meet the research objectives, the research responds to the following questions:
1.4.1. Main question
Compared to the existing method of spatial cadastral data acquisition (general boundaries survey), what degree of efficiency is the digital pen method?
1.4.2. Sub-questions
Which sources of errors in the existing method can be addressed by the digital pen method?
What time does it take for data collection in the field and the office workload when using the digital pen method compared to the existing method?
What the digital pen method can change in the process used in terms of the space for archiving compared to the existing method?
What is the level of practicability of the digital pen method for field operations in P-mapping compared to the existing method?
1.5. Research methodology
To meet the research objectives and to answer to the research questions, the methods were:
Literature review. This concerns land administration and participatory mapping and a brief analysis focusing on the goals of this research. The review is presented in chapter 2.
Direct observation. This concerns an overview of the existing method for data collection during the field adjudication using orthophotos in the field, and in the office workload for mapping the collected data. This overview is needed for comparison of an alternative method for data acquisition using digital pen. The overview of the existing method is presented in chapter 3.
Data collection. The organisation of the field work and other work done in this research for data collection is presented in chapter 4.
Experiments in relation to the use of the digital pen are presented in chapter 5. This includes assessments for efficient data collection when using the digital pen. Further the qualitative and quantitative comparison of the existing pencil based data acquisition with the alternative digital pen based data acquisition is presented here.
According to (Corne´ P. J. M. van Elzakker, 2008), “the combination of quantitative and qualitative research is a common characteristic of the user centred design process, whereby qualitative research is implemented to test the first prototype designs and more quantitative research to evaluate the final designs. To help understand this, we first of all require more qualitative user research. But, on the other hand, we also want to have quantitative measures telling us, for instance, how long it takes for a subject to execute a particular use task.”
For quantitative method, there was to assess how long the use of the digital pen method takes to accomplish a certain task compared to the existing method. This was quantified in terms of number of parcels demarcated in certain range of time until getting the final digital outputs, and number of people to accomplish the task.
For qualitative method, after uploading data from digital pen to the computer, in ArcGIS, there was to assess the quality of parcels boundaries visualised by assessing whether they are true to the original parcels boundaries drawn on printed map (digital paper). This was assessed by overlaying uploaded data to the original orthophoto and check if the visualised boundaries reflect the ones drawn on digital paper. The quality of data in the existing method was assessed compared to the digital pen method. For quality assessment of outputs, there was to assess the degree of keeping original collected data in each of both methods in minimising sources of errors. There was also to assess the practicability of the process used for each method in terms of archiving, and the level of practicability of each method in P-mapping.
The research compares the existing method and the digital pen method in order to assess whether the digital pen method can improve the efficiency of spatial data acquisition. In the context of this research,
EVALUATION OF DIGITAL PEN IN DATA CAPTURING FOR LAND ADMINISTRATION PURPOSES IN RWANDA
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the state or quality of being efficient is the competency in performance, ability to accomplish a task with a minimum expenditure of time and effort, and with a good quality of outputs.
1.6. Thesis outline
Chapter 1. Introduction
This chapter consists of the background of the study, the research problem, the research objectives, the research questions, the research methodology, and the thesis outline.
Chapter 2. Land administration and participatory mapping
This chapter analyses the key concepts, land administration and P-mapping, related to this research for understanding how they are related each other. This analysis concerns commenting and linking existing knowledge on P-mapping and land administration. This existing knowledge has been collected based on a literature review.
Chapter 3. Cadastral survey process and data acquisition techniques in Rwanda
This chapter describes in short the existing data acquisition techniques in Rwanda, and the focus on orthophoto based land adjudication in P-mapping in general boundaries survey. This description is needed to compare the existing method of data acquisition with the digital pen based method in chapter 5.
Chapter 4. Data collection methods
This chapter presents the pre-field work activities, it gives an overview of the field work, further tests for para-surveyors in the use of the digital pen method, the selected sites for data collection, further tests for other approaches in the use of the digital pen method, and materials used in data collection.
Chapter 5. Comparison of the existing method with the digital pen method
This chapter presents the results of different tests done for the use of digital pen in spatial data capturing, and it compares the existing method used in Rwanda for general boundaries survey and the digital pen method. The comparison is done by qualitative and quantitative methods.
Chapter 6. Discussion on the digital pen method for cadastral survey
This chapter discusses the results presented in chapter 5. The discussion is based on the four criteria used in this research (P-mapping, quality, time, and process). The research questions are focus of attention in this discussion.
Chapter 7. Conclusions and recommendations
This chapter presents the conclusions of this research. It also presents the recommendations related to this work and suggestion for further research.
2. LAND ADMINISTRATION AND PARTICIPATORY MAPPING
This chapter analyses the key concepts, land administration and P-mapping, related to this research for understanding how they are related each other. This analysis concerns commenting and linking existing knowledge on P-mapping and land administration. This existing knowledge has been collected based on a literature review.
2.1. Land administration
Land information system is the basis of facilitating land administration. “A land information system is defined as a GIS which utilizes land parcels as the link to the non-graphic database attribute”(Bishop, et al., 2000). According to these authors, land information, in urban area, is buildings and the name of the owners of land parcels.
According to (Heo, Kim, & Kang, 2006) “Land Information System (LIS) is a subset of GIS with a focus on data concerning land records”.
In the context of this research, land information is the information for all land parcels, in urban and rural areas. According to (Lemmen & Oosterom, 2002) “A cadastral system covers both land registration (the
administrative/legal component) and the cadastral map (the spatial component). The combined process is called land administration and a cadastral system is the environment in which this process takes place”. According to (UN/ECE, 1996) “Land administration is the processes of recording and disseminating information about the ownership, value and use of land and its associated resources”. According to (M.-P. Törhönen, 2004) “land administration is one, if not the main land policy instrument. Land policy is a governmental instrument that states the strategy and objectives for the social, economic and environmental use of the land and natural resources of a country. It includes the regulations and measures of the rights to land (land tenure), the use of land and the valuation of land”.
In land administration system there is relation between people and land, it is important to keep updating information, for both spatial data and related legal administrative data. According to (Deininger, Ali, Holden, & Zevenbergen, 2008) lack of updating could quickly undermine the reliability of the system, especially in areas with higher transaction frequencies, thus undermining its overall reliability and
trustworthiness. According to (Heo, et al., 2006) spatial data changes in a parcel-based LIS mean changes of parcel boundaries. Legal and administrative actions on parcels result in changes of the attributes in a cadastre. According to (Williamson & Ting, 2001) “Cadastre is normally a parcel based and up-to-date land information system containing a record of interests in land (e.g. rights, restrictions and responsibilities). It usually includes a geometric description of land parcels linked to other records describing the nature of the interests, and ownership or control of those interests, and often the value of the parcel and its improvements.” Land tenure system or a land register is sustainable if it manages to administer land effectively and to reflect the actual relationships between people and land (M.-P. Törhönen, 2004).
The way to get land information is through land registration, and one of the ways of registering land is the involvement of local people in the process of land registration through P-mapping. This research studies land registration with application of surveying general boundaries in P-mapping. According to (Bogaerts &
Zevenbergen, 2001), under general boundaries, the emphasis is on the visible features on the ground. In general, these features are supposed to coincide with the approximate position of the boundaries. These features can be mapped relatively easily; creating a cadastral index map, with a graphical representation of the boundaries. However, these boundaries although clearly visible in the terrain (walls, hedges, ditches, etc.) do not indicate the exact location of the legal boundaries, but they are very easy to measure with land surveying or with aerial photogrammetry.
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2.2. Participatory mapping
In the context of this research, the use of the terminology of participatory geographic information system (PGIS) for land administration activities is under participatory mapping (P-mapping). This means that in P-mapping it doesn’t mean to take necessary a GIS to the field or in another way, it is the use of local spatial knowledge for mapping spatial information, whatever techniques used.
2.2.1. Participatory mapping techniques
In participatory method people intimate knowledge of their own space in collectively interpreting aerial- photographs and satellite images. The development of GIS helps to develop local knowledge processes (e.g. constructing knowledge, discovering relationships in space, learning from each other, and building a common view) (Gonzalez, 2002).
Participatory mapping based on orthophoto is a precise, cost-effective and participatory tool for land use planning, resource assessment, impact monitoring, and conflict mediation. Participants in mapping
exercises typically show high level of participation and engagement, most likely due to the authentic nature of the data. In addition, data input into a GIS program enables post-processing, permits enhanced
cadastral activities, better land use statistics and computer-based monitoring of land use changes (Müller, Wode, & Wehr, 2003).
Participatory mapping can also be done in mobile GIS4. This is done for example by uploading
orthophotos into the mobile devices, such as PDA5, to take in the field for data collection. According to (Verplanke, 2004) “local communities can learn without much difficulty to use mobile GIS to make inventories of their natural resources.” But on the other hand, this author argues challenges in the use of mobile GIS for
ordinary community. According to this author, it is challenge in the use of mobile GIS to explain the basic functions and features of a computer to people that are unfamiliar to the concept of computers. A lot of button pressing is necessary to get to the starting point of the GPS exercise, which is difficult to achieve for someone unfamiliar with the equipment.
2.2.2. Participatory mapping in the context of land tenure
The community involvement in land tenure regularization activities is seen as an instrument for engendering social capital and a strategy for resource mobilization towards securing tenure (Magigi &
Majani, 2006). In South Africa, in the Mpumalanga Province, local people traced their views on paper maps by using pencils and colored markers on how land reform would be done in their area(Weiner &
Harris, 1999). The value of participation in land registration is the information agreed upon by local people. For this reason, the first phase is the public information. In Cambodia, registering land systematically by using orthophotos printed maps, the participation of local people is to provide information over their parcels, and the adjudication officer and the demarcation officer literally go together to the parcel in question on the agreed date. During land adjudication, the existing rights in parcels are ascertained, not altering the existing rights or creating new ones. In demarcation of parcels, boundaries are delineated and agreed upon with the adjoining owners or other interest parties (Törhönen, 2001).
“PGIS is the relationship between the use of geo-information and governance to foster accountability, transparency, legitimacy and other dimensions of governance, to facilitate systematically identifying and representing the spatial rights of people to their land and land resources, in terms of ownership, access, use and management” (McCall, 2003). This author argues the expectation of P-mapping to be implemented in a participative manner and make use of local information within which local spatial knowledge (LSK) is a special category. Untrained people, with LSK, can work effectively, easily and happily interpreting aerial photos.
4 Mobile GIS is the combination of GIS software, GPS, and mobile computing device. Mobile GIS fundamentally changes the way information is collected. A mobile GIS allows to visualize information in a digital map.
5 PDA stands for a personal digital assistant. It is an electronic handheld information device.
During land registration process local people should be involved in land adjudication and demarcation process using understandable mapping tools in applying LSK. According to(Lemmen and Zevenbergen, 2010), in Ethiopia, in 2008, a team conducted a simple field test using Quickbird satellite imagery in the programme of rural land certification. The results showed that high resolution imagery based in land adjudication is useful in P-mapping. The data collection in the field was done with the help of land rights holders and local officials. The image quality of the plots at a scale of 1:2000 was sufficiently high to allow the parties to easily understand the images and contribute input, making the process very participatory.
2.2.3. Ethics and participatory mapping
The ethics in participatory mapping is necessary in the whole process of land registration. It would be in preparation of field work, during the field activities, and after data collection. This motivates local people to participate by using their LSK. Before starting land registration in a certain area, local people should be well informed about which purpose and whose purpose. The facilitators/planners should make clear the objectives of the activity and why the involvement of local people. “If carefully considered, the „Who?‟/‟whose?‟
questions may induce appropriate attitudes and behaviours in the broader context of good practice” (Rambaldi, Chambers, McCall, & Fox, 2006). These authors describe guiding principles which should be taken into consideration for PGIS, such as to be considerate in taking people’s time, to be careful in avoid causing tensions or violence in a community, put local values, needs and concerns first, to make participation be informed consent, not to raise expectations to the community, etc. According to (Wang, Yu, Cinderby, & Forrester, 2008), the design of PGIS process is mainly based on participants abilities and needs, for example, lower education of villagers and high aspirations amongst local communities for expressing their perspectives in planning process. PGIS attempts to mobilize the inherent intelligence of local people, involving them in actions rather than providing training in how to drive a GIS.
During P-mapping the planner/facilitator should not rush the process. The community needs to learn how to use the equipments and how to proceed the work. Regarding this, the planner should choose spatial information technology appropriate to the activity but also which local people would understand without difficulties.
The transparency is important in P-mapping to protect rights of all parties. According to (Weiner, Harris,
& Craig, 2002) “Community-based GIS projects simultaneously promote the empowerment and marginalization of socially differentiated communities. As a result, the nature of the participatory process itself is critical for understanding who benefits from access to GIS and why.” According to (Törhönen, 2001) “Special attention has to be paid to the weak groups.
Women are often potentially weaker than men, in terms of securing their land rights. Other vulnerable groups might be the poor, disabled, illiterate, etc. In the worst case, an ignorant registration procedure could enable the powerful people to take advantage of the weak and formalise land grabbing. Prevention comes in the form of publicity, leaving little space for corruption and other violations”.
2.3. Concluding remarks
It has been shown from a literature review on a related analysis that P-mapping, land administration and ethics are related to each other. In land registration process land owners show their parcels boundaries agreed upon by their neighbours who are also present in the field to show their respective parcels boundaries. P-mapping is useful in land registration to involve local people in this process for better land administration. The ethics in P-mapping are also necessary to make the participation useful.
The next chapter presents data acquisition techniques existing in Rwanda, and the focus on orthophoto based land adjudication in P-mapping.
3. CADASTRAL SURVEY PROCESS AND DATA ACQUISITION TECHNIQUES IN RWANDA
In Rwanda, there exists too types of cadastral survey process, these are fixed boundaries survey and general boundaries survey. This chapter describes in short the existing data acquisition techniques in Rwanda, and the focus on orthophoto based land adjudication in P-mapping in general boundaries survey.
This description is needed to compare the existing method of data acquisition with the digital pen based method in chapter 5.
3.1. Process of cadastre
Before the organic law n° 08/2005 of 14/07/2005 determining the use and management of land in Rwanda, cadastral survey in Rwanda was a centralised system on a demand led basis in rural and mainly in urban areas. This process was done under fixed boundaries. According to (Bogaerts & Zevenbergen, 2001) “Under fixed boundaries, all parties concerned have to fully agree on the exact position of each boundary point. This means that once such a position is agreed upon, it is marked in the terrain with high precision. The demarcation, measuring and registration of fixed boundaries ask for more time and effort. General boundaries would be a good alternative, and owners can then, later, when they feel the need, apply for having their boundaries converted to fixed ones at their own expense”.
Currently in Rwanda, with the land reform policy, all land in country is being registered systematically.
This will improve land tenure security to anyone who has right to a certain land in the country. To achieve this, P-mapping is adopted, and this process is based on the use of high resolution orthophotos for general boundaries survey.
3.2. Techniques of cadastral survey
Survey techniques used in Rwanda are of the following categories: terrestrial based techniques, airborne and space techniques. Terrestrial based techniques consist of optical theodolite, total station and global positioning system (GPS). Airborne and space techniques consist of aerial photographs and satellite images.
Since long time, theodolite was used for fixed boundaries survey, with establishment of monuments, in rural areas and mainly in urban areas. This instrument is still used but it is now less used because of the acquired advanced survey technologies in the country. According to (Österberg, 2006), since 2002 GPS is used in land survey in Rwanda. At the beginning, it was limited in Kigali City for establishment of cadastral database using GIS/ArcCadastre.
At the moment, GPS and total station are used by National Land Centre (NLC) and private surveying companies for surveying fixed boundaries, with the establishment of monuments for showing the boundary of each corner point surveyed.“GPS-surveying requires less technical expertise than traditional surveying.
The software guides the user; understanding the underlying measuring principle is not necessary. The surveyor only has to take care of his own roving receiver (data-terminal)” (Salzmann, 2002).
Although, there are some challenges. The modern accurate GPS is not extended in land surveying departments; the equipments of this kind of GPS are still very few for the reason of expensive costs. In Rwanda, district land bureaus use navigation GPS, it is not surveying GPS.
Orthophotos with high resolution are used in systematic cadastral survey process in country; they are used in P-mapping. General boundaries are identified on the image and agreed upon by all parties concerned,
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then marked, no establishment of monuments. After field work, the parcels boundaries are digitised using GIS software packages.
3.3. Human resources in surveying
Every district land bureau has a surveyor. The human resources working in land surveying in district land bureaus have their background in domains which provide some training in surveying such as geography, and civil engineering.
In parcels boundaries demarcation using orthophotos, the human resources required are local people in their respective areas; they are trained as para-surveyors on how to use the orthophoto map. The training is undertaken when doing the parcels boundaries demarcation work in the field, and after three to four weeks they get familiar with the work, and they can work by themselves. After they finish covering their area, they train also other para-surveyors in other areas as the systematic land registration is progressing, thus they become also the trainers of others.
3.4. Technological bottlenecks in carrying out the survey
Among the bottlenecks in carrying out the survey, there is a lack of surveying law in the country
determining for example the accuracy tolerance, etc. The lack of this legal framework affects techniques of data acquisition. Beside this, one of the bottlenecks in carrying out the survey is the lack of the appropriate surveying equipments.
3.5. Participatory mapping in data acquisition for land tenure regularisation
LTR formalises land tenure by establishing how people came by their land, they make a claim, they show what evidence/documents they have to support their claim, they define their parcels boundaries, and this brings to legal first registration of their lands legal titles.
3.5.1. Main activities of land tenure regularisation in Rwanda
The main activities and actors in LTR from preparatory work to field work, and titling are:
Notification of LTR area
Local information campaign to sensitise local people to participate in land adjudication process
Land adjudication and demarcation of parcels boundaries
Objections and corrections
Disagreement resolution (in case of disagreement)
Final registration and titling
Regarding the period for objections and corrections, this is done after the digitisation of parcels boundaries and data entry of related legal administrative data (attributes). After this, the digitised data (boundaries of parcels and related attributes) are printed and taken back with the original field sheets to the concerned administrative cell for the feedback of local people. The following figure presents the main activities in LTR and actors.
Figure 1. Main activities in LTR
According to (de Vries, 2004) one of the key common elements of progressive titling is gradual upgrade of land rights formalisation, in order to improve the level of tenure security, and to provide additional means of land management.
One district curried out systematic land registration in 2003. This was in former Itabire District, and the main objective was to reduce land disputes (MINITERE, 2007).
act Main activ ities in LTR
NLC NLC and local authority Local people NLC, local authority and local people
Local information campaign
Land adj udication and demarcation of parcels
boundaries
Obj ections and corrections
Disagreement resolution Notification of LTR area
Final registration and titling
Claims with no objection Claims with objection
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Figure 2. Parcel sketches in former Itabire District Source: MINITERE6, 2007
As shown in the figure 2, the land registration was done by using the traditional measurements, this was done by tape measure.
3.5.2. Orthophoto based in applying participatory mapping
During LTR trials, in 2007, the high resolution (0.60m resolution) Quickbird satellite imagery which date of 2006 was used. The image resolution describes the detail an image holds; resolution quantifies how close lines can be to each other and still to be visibly resolved. Higher resolution means more image detail.
Quickbird satellite imagery used in LTR trials provided an easily understandable basis for the identification and demarcation of land parcels as part of the LTR. Four districts were selected for LTR trials (Karongi, Musanze, Gasabo and Kirehe districts). In each district, the LTR process was done in one cell
administrative boundary.
The Quickbird satellite imagery used in LTR trials was orthorectified. Orthorectification is the process of geometrically adjusting a perspective image to an orthogonal image by transforming coordinates from the image space to the ground space and removing tilt and relief displacement. A perspective image, camera or sensor calibration information, ground control points7 and a digital elevation model8 are the main inputs
6 MINITERE is former Ministry of Lands, Environment, Forest, Water and Mines. Later it changed to MINIRENA (Ministry of Natural Resources). At the moment the land sector and environmental sector are in MINELA (Ministry of Environment and lands).
7 Ground control point (GCP) is a point on the surface of the earth of known location, fixed within an established co-ordinate system, which is used to geo-reference image data sources, such as remotely sensed images or scanned maps.
8 Digital elevation model (DEM) is a digital representation of ground surface topography or terrain. It is also widely known as a digital terrain model (DTM).
for orthorectification processing. The absolute accuracy of orthoimages is largely dependent on the quality and the distribution of the ground control points used to orient the image to the ground space. The role of the DEM is to eliminate the effects of terrain relief displacement (Liu, Zhang, Peterson, & Chandra, 2007).
After LTR trials, land registration process is extended to other areas using high resolution orthophotos produced from aerial photographs. Quickbird satellite imagery used in LTR trials and aerial photographs used for now are both orthorectified, they can be used to measure distances because they are an accurate representation of the Earth's surface.
The orthophotos produced from aerial photographs were produced for Project Rwanda National Land Use and Development Master Plan; they date of 2008 and 2009. These orthophotos have 0.25m image pixel resolution, and they are geo-referenced and projected in Rwanda geodetic system; the spatial referenced system is ITRF 2005 (Swedesurvey, 2010). These orthophotos are now also used in land registration process.
3.5.3. Production of field sheets
Different map scales are used for preparing field sheets, and this is related to the size of parcels and land management in different areas. 1:500 scale is used in Kigali City, part of spontaneous areas where the plots are dense and without any planning, and 1:1000 scale in other areas in Kigali City and other urban areas of the country. 1:1500 scale is used in North, West and South parts of the country, and 1:2000 scale is used in East part and in rural part of Kigali City. For every scale used in a certain area, there is an overlap between 2 consecutive field sheets, thus they have same features between their overlap, so this allows demarcating a parcel which has boundaries on more than 1 field sheet. The field sheets are printed on A2 size. After the preparatory work, parcels boundaries demarcation and land registration start.
3.5.4. Field work for parcels boundaries demarcation and registration
In one cell9, four teams process/do the work. Each team is composed by adjudication committee (two members of cell land committee and three members of umudugudu10 committee) and two para-surveyors.
In field, the following materials are used:
For parcels boundaries demarcation, the materials are:
- Orthophoto maps/field sheets printed on A2 size.
- Clip board, pencil, rubber, pencil sharpener, ruler, form with official stamp, and tape measure. A tape measure is used when it is difficult to find features on map like in forest; it helps by using the
measurements of tape measure on the ground, and then based on these measurements demarcation of parcel boundaries on map is done by using the scale.
For land registration the materials are claim receipts and objection receipts, registers books, pens, tampon and its liquid.
The following figure presents the procedures applied in parcels boundaries demarcation and registration in the field:
9A cell is administrative boundary which is land registration base unit. It is composed by more than 1 umudugudu.
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Figure 3. Procedures applied in parcels boundaries demarcation and registration in the field As shown in the figure 3, the following steps are done in the field when doing LTR:
1. The adjudication committee, accompanied by a para-surveyor, requests the land owner to point out the existing physical boundaries of his/her parcel in the presence of land owners of neighbouring parcels.
2. The para-surveyor identifies parcel boundaries on the orthophoto map and marks the boundaries features shown on actual ground as they appear on the orthophoto.
3. On completion of the whole accepted perimeter of the parcel as it exists, the para-surveyor then issues a unique consecutive number for that parcel.
4. The unique number is then marked on the orthophoto map. The para-surveyor marks the parcel ID inside the parcel to the map, or besides by using the arrow if the parcel is too small. S(H)e writes also, on the form which has the official stamp, the parcel ID, the land claimant names, parcels IDs of
neighbouring parcels, whether there is servitude on that parcel or whether not, the existing land use, remark, names of para-surveyor and his/her signature, administrative location of that parcel (sector, cell, and umudugudu), and date of parcel boundaries demarcation. The land holder takes this form to the adjudication committee (AC), and the AC fills the detailed information in a register book.
The information filled in lands claims register book is the administrative location of the parcel (province, district, sector, cell and umudugudu), identification of the parcel (date of registration, parcel number), identification of provisional landowners (names of land claimants, their personal IDs), relationship of land
act Parcels boundaries demarcation and registration in the field
Adjudication committee Land owner Para-surveyor
Show s the boundaries of his/her parcel in presence
of neighbours
Demarcates on map parcel boundaries
Marks the parcel number on map
Issues the parcel number to the land ow ner
Giv es additional information for registration
Records all required infomation in register
Issues the prov isional claim receipt Asks the land ow ner to
show his/her parcel boundaries
Gets the prov isional claim receipt
claimants, whether there is case of orphans or widow, names of persons representing orphans under 18 years old, their relationship with those orphans, personal IDs of those orphans’ representatives, names of other persons who have interests/right on that parcel, their personal IDs, and the relationship they have with landowners. The administrative location of landowner’s residence is also recorded in register. Other information is land acquisition type, existing documents proving the ownership on that land, what land is supposed to be used for, existing land use, whether servitude on that land, and whether disagreement on the parcel. After the AC to fill the detailed information in the lands claims register, the AC gives land claim receipt to the land claimant.
Regarding the disagreement on parcel, in that case the parcel is recorded both in lands claims register book, and there is another register book filled with information on disagreement (lands disagreements register). The information11 filled is almost similar to the one filled in lands claims register book, and with additional information on disagreement. After the AC to fill the detailed information in the register of lands disagreements, the person(s) who disagree the information provided on that parcel gets land disagreement receipt.
There are 4 teams working in 1 cell, and in order to avoid that 1 parcel is demarcated and registered by more than 1 team, thus to be demarcated and registered twice or more, the 4 teams are deployed in a way that every team has a delimitation of the area to demarcate within a cell administrative boundaries, they are divided referring to the common references such as roads, rivers, and other natural or physical features.
During parcels boundaries demarcation, for a parcel which has boundaries in more than 1 cell
administrative boundaries area, every piece of land is demarcated and registered in a cell that it is located.
But for a piece of land which is less than 5m of distance from cell boundary, this piece of land is demarcated and registered in a cell that has the biggest part of that parcel. This case happens on parcels which are in line of division between 2 neighbouring cells, and that line of division is neither natural nor physical feature, for example neither river nor road such as in forests, farms, even in some marshlands.
Demarcation of land is completed at the same time as adjudication and recording of administrative information. In case of disagreement of the information provided on parcel in the field, the AC resolves.
And if it is not resolved, the parcel is registered as the parcel with disagreement, and the disagreement is taken to mediation committee (Abunzi) before final registration and titling.
The orthophoto based method for parcels boundaries demarcation is suitable for the progress of cadastral surveying in the country, all parcels are demarcated and registered by local people, they understand orthophoto map; this requires simple field work training.
3.5.5. Spatial analysis of cadastral information
After field work, the paper based data is taken to NLC office for digitisation (data entry of legal administrative information and digitisation of parcels boundaries). After digitization of spatial data and non-spatial data, these data are linked by using parcels IDs for spatial analysis, land ownership analysis, land disagreement analysis and other analysis can be done spatially.
11The information filled in the lands disagreements register is administrative location of that parcel (province, district, sector, cell and umudugudu), identification of the parcel (date of registration, parcel number), identification of persons who disagree the information provided on that parcel (their names, their personal IDs, their relationship, names of persons representing orphans under 18 years old, their relationship with those orphans, personal IDs of those orphans’ representatives, names of other persons who have interests/right on that parcel, their personal IDs, and relationship they have with persons who disagree the information provided on that parcel, relationship that persons who disagree the information provided on that parcel have with land claimants).
The administrative location of residence of the person(s) who disagree the information provided on that parcel is also recorded.
Other information recorded is the type of disagreement, and existing documents proving the ownership on that land.
